Santiago (15-16 Nov 2010)

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Monday 15th November 2010

The bus pulled in at 5am & we took a taxi to a hostel to grab a power nap & recharge. We we’re lucky enough to be offered early check in and given a room immediately, but as Richard tried to climb up onto the top bunk it collapsed on Joanne's head! Thankfully she wasn't hurt too bad, just a bit shook up, so reception offered us an apology and the spare bed in the same room for Richard (not thinking that the bottom bunk was also out of action!) We were instead given a new room where we disturbed yet more sleeping people, and after a few hours shut eye went to chill by the pool for the day. La Casa Rojo was a lovely place apart from our initial experience! After a game of table tennis we return to the room to find that our camera & video camera had been stolen. Richard went to the police but as it had happened somewhere between Bariloche & Santiago the Chilean police instantly blamed the Argentinian police & said they are renowned crooks and it will have happened at customs. Richard got a report for the insurance company & returned to the hostel for dinner & an early night.

Tuesday 16th November 2010

Fruit salad for breakfast & then went back to bed as we didn't seem to have caught up on sleep from the night bus. Our photo tour of the city started at 2pm where we met a couple of GP’s (husband & wife) and a couple of Irish girls. Chatting to one of the Irish girls, Richard asked what she would be doing on her return to which she said “I live in Switzerland now, I’m not going back to Ireland, It’s a stupid country!!!”, which was hilarious in a fairly strong Irish accent! We took in some of the city’s sights although Santiago is no BA. There were a few attempts to copy Paris & London, and other hill top views mainly from the botanical gardens. We could only tip a few pounds, leaving just enough money for a cab to the airport, which we shared with 3 other girls. Our luggage was strapped to the roof & our confidence of it staying there was quite low! We reached the airport, checked in & spent our last Chilean currency on a pack of starbursts & a tiny bite-size doughnut ball, the sales assistant looked at us like we were mad ordering just 1 (& we shared it!).

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